“When you fight like this, high-level fight, you have to believe you’re the champ, nobody can beat you,” Nurmagomedov said during Thursday’s press conference in advance of UFC 229. “It’s OK. I’m OK about this.”

Nurmagomedov, the current and official UFC lightweight champion wasn’t as OK, though, with UFC President Dana White asking for the former two-division champ Conor McGregor’s belts before a face-off with Nurmagomedov in last month’s intense UFC 229 press conference in New York.

“I’m not OK about this, because Dana already know where is Conor belts,” Nurmagomedov said. “(Featherweight champ) Max Holloway and Khabib Nurmagomedov, he have to know. But he bring with him belts, believe himself. It’s OK. I’m OK about this. But tell this guy (White), hey, he lose his belts. He lose his mind.”

As Nurmagomedov (26-0 MMA, 10-0 UFC) would go on to point out, it’s been almost two years since McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) set foot inside the octagon. The Irishman was last seen beating Eddie Alvarez to earn the 155-pound crown in November 2016, adding to the 145-pound title he’d taken from Jose Aldo the year before. He never defended either title and was ultimately stripped of both.